My old friend Chuck (Of Two Minds Blog) is always good for a provocative thought or two. Today’s no exception as he muses about the unthinkable–maybe the rest of us would be better off if we just let all those insolvent banks and investment firms slide into bankruptcy? That woke me up faster than the [...]
Entries from June 30th, 2008
Monday…Letting the banks fail, Hawaii parties in the UK, a Dobelle sighting, more
June 30th, 2008 · 2 Comments · General
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Sunday…Hawaii link in false Obama rumor campaign, last gasp on campaign finance, no cell phones in Seattle, and Sunday’s dogs
June 29th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Dogs, General, Politics
A Washington Post story yesterday on an investigation into the email attack that spread the false rumor that Barack Obama has a background as a radical Muslim had an interesting Hawaii link. The story identifies Andrew Walden, a Big Island resident and publisher of the ultra-conservative Hawaii Free Press, as one of the first writers [...]
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Saturday…more on the Supreme Court’s latest and Hawaii’s publicly funded elections experiment, plus another view of Mr. Toby
June 28th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Campaigns, Cats
Andy Parx, in a comment here yesterday, questioned my assessment of this week’s Supreme Court decision on Hawaii’s experiment in publicly financed elections passed by the legislature this year. Any wrote: I don’t think you’re reading this right Ian. It has nothing to do with full public financing laws- or for that matter any public [...]
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Friday…More on the Supreme Court and public financed elections, Galbraith land could test new ag land law, derivatives, and Friday cats
June 27th, 2008 · 2 Comments · General
Ballot Access News had a slightly different take on the impact of yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in its initial review. This language should make it easier to win lawsuits against state public funding laws which set unequal rewards for some candidates, relative to other candidates. Public funding laws in Maine, Arizona, and New Mexico, treat [...]
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Supreme Court decision may undermine Hawaii’s new public finance experiment
June 26th, 2008 · No Comments · Campaigns, General, Politics
The Supreme Court today struck down a federal law that attempted to offset the advantage of wealthy candidates who finance their own campaigns by giving benefits, including higher contribution limits, to their opponents. I haven’t yet read the decision itself, but initial news reports indicate that the court soundly rejected the idea of “leveling the [...]
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Thursday…Bad news from a friend, Star-Bulletin owner posts a quarterly loss due to currency-related derivatives, McCain’s computer illiteracy, and crime news from Manoa
June 26th, 2008 · No Comments · General
I was sitting at a small desk in the Land Use Commission office yesterday afternoon reading through some old documents when my cell phone rang. It was the wife of a friend we’ve known and kept in contact with for about 20 years. She was crying. “He’s sick. He’s really sick, and he didn’t want [...]
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Wednesday…More on Bumpy’s constitutional convention, a plea to save the invasive species inspection fee, requirements for ballot issue committees, Hawaii trash, and photos of Maui
June 25th, 2008 · 1 Comment · General
Thanks to Gordon Pang for his story in today’s Advertiser providing more details on Bumpy Kanahele’s Hawaiian con-con design. Christy Martin, public information officer for the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, sent over a commentary regarding Gov. Lingle’s intention to veto a bill authorizing an inspection fee on incoming cargo. Martin writes: The Coordinating [...]
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Tuesday…Hawaii and peak oil, risks of rising sea levels, another group moves its sovereignty claim forward, and more Kaaawa dogs
June 24th, 2008 · 4 Comments · General
Try wrapping your brain around this assessment of Hawaii’s energy future (“Hawaii: Peak Oil Canary in a Coal Mine“). Both the essay and the more than 100 comments make challenging reading. For example: Hawaii’s biggest industry is its tourist industry. It seems likely to me that Hawaii’s tourist industry will largely disappear in the next [...]
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